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Oxy-fuel aluminum welding

Good Day All,
Ok I know i nthe past I have pushed torch welding of aluminum quite a bit, especially for fuel tanks. Well I thought I would share some pictures of a test weld for fuel tank project, and show the advantages of the process for these applications.

Notice the back side of the weld usually looks better then the top, perfect penetration, no oxidation. The weld is not very thick, but has very high density. Since torch welding my aluminum fuel tanks I have not had one single pinhole, leak, crack or failure of any kind.

Very nice Mako...that is not easy to do. I like the first pic (edge) looks like good penetration and good tie in to the sides.

Did you use a flux with it or not? I have always thought that you needed to use an aluminum powder flux (Oxweld Alumaflux) when o/a aluminum?

Yeah sorry, I forgot to mention the flux. I used Allstates Welding flux ( the old Alcoa/Linde formula ).

Just for kicks, here is the same weld, stretched with a ball pein on a plate of aluminum to stretch the heck out of the weld, notice there are no cracks of any kind. Kinda gives you a warm fuzzy feeling when you have 30 gallons of Av-Gas sitting in front of you and your pulling 8g manuvers.

Great job, I have tried that a couple of times with no luck I think I was using the wrong flux. It must be a rare process when I went to the weld supply store they said they have never seen it done or couldnt tell me what flux to use. Then the tried to sell me a tig LOL.

Hey mako,
That is some fine O/A AL welding. I love O/A and have been using it 43+ years and been O/A Alum. for many years. I also do MIG & TIG Alum. but always keep brushed up with O/A. You can really get the "feel" of the AL with O/A and I wish more welders would get into the multitude of welding facets that O/A can do. The ease of transition into TIG is really amazing if one does a few years of O/A prior to TIG. It's good to see those like yourself who do quality AL welding and "push" the O/A process.......BTW, I use the same flux......Thanks....Denny

Oxy-fuel aluminum welding

I've done my fair share of brazing over the years but never tried O/A or O/H welding on aluminum. I would love to know more about it and any pointers, tips, or publications you could help me with would be greatly appreciated. I am getting more and more aluminum work coming into the shop and think it would be a lot quicker and more efficient to do the oxy fuel welding over mig or tig. I've asked a lot of old time welders about o/a or o/h on aluminum and have not been able to find any one that had ever done it before. We have three LWS's in the area and none of them were any help in the past when I had asked them about torch types, tips, fluxes, etc, etc...

Once again I would really appreciate any and all info you would be willing to share. Dave

yorkiepap, haven't seen you in a while, glad to see you post again

If necessity is the Mother of Invention, I must be the Father of Desperation!

Hey Dave(dabar39),
Thanks man....I kinda stayed away when all the personality conflicts started. I'm not fond of those kinds of responses on a forum, any forum, that is supposed to help, enlighten, and give inexperienced or experienced welders a place to LEARN! I read this forum every day as I do with 2 others I like and contribute to. Mako's post kinda lit me up with O/A and I really like to help others really learn what the potentials are for O/A..even if one just wants to be able to do some "home repairs/fixups" and have a process that is quite inexpensive. Sorry for getting off tangent a bit. Anyway, I hope to be able to contribute a bit more now & again.....Denny